At the start of the season, Al Rhodes knew one of his team's strengths this season would be depth - especially with his post players.

Chalk one up for the coach.

That has played a big key in the first three games of the season for the Tigers and probably is the reason a young Warsaw team is off to a somewhat surprising 3-0 start. As it did in the previous two ball games, contest No. 3 had Warsaw using four solid players inside to its advantage in a 78-63 win over Goshen in the Northern Lakes Conference opener for both teams.

With the Tigers muscling in with four guys, the Redskins were only able to counter with one in 6-foot-5 Tom Hoogenboom and when he was on the bench with foul trouble, Goshen couldn't come close to matching Warsaw's inside game.

"We just didn't have an answer for the guys inside," Goshen coach Mike Sorrell said. "All four of those guys do a nice job. On the blocks, we got our heads handed to us.

Hoogenboom fouled out in the fourth quarter and was joined on the bench by Josh Kurtz a few minutes later in a foul-plagued game that had 58 personals whistled between the two teams.

Warsaw had all four of its post players with four fouls each, but because Rhodes was able to rotate them in and out, none fouled out.

"A huge factor was our team depth," Rhodes said. "Look at how many post guys we had with four fouls. We were able to keep playing and eventually wear them (Goshen) down."

Which is exactly what the Tigers were able to do against victims No. 1 and No. 2 this season, Tippecanoe Valley and Columbia City.

If the Tigers do have an Achilles Heel this year it would their ballhandling, and it allowed the Redskins to get back into the game. Warsaw led by 14, 57-43, entering the fourth quarter and still held a double-figure lead with four minutes left. That is when the Tigers went to a delay game, but because of turnovers, it didn't do much but give Goshen more chances to rally.

"We have some mental concentration drops," Rhodes said. "We have some mental barriers to go through before we are a good team. We must value the ball more than we do. That is just inexperience."

Warsaw had 10 turnovers in the first three quarters and nine in the fourth quarter alone.

"Quite frankly, I was surprised we came back," Sorrell said. "For some reason, they weren't as effective. Part of the reason was they went into that delay and stopped punching it in on us, and we stole the ball a few times."

Goshen cut the lead to eight points a few times, but the Tigers hit on 19 of 23 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.

"I really thought they could beat us worse down the stretch," Sorrell said. "We were able to take away the delay. We were more able to take away the delay than we were the post play. I would rather defend the delay."

Warsaw outrebounded Goshen 31-18, including 14 boards from senior center Luke Reed.

"Luke Reed controlled the boards, especially in the second half on the defensive end," Rhodes said. "It was a tremendous performance."

The score was tied at 38 midway through the third quarter when Warsaw picked things up on the defensively, got the running game going and outscored Goshen 13-0 to take a 51-38 advantage.

"We played better defense in the third, and we cut down our turnovers, especially against their press," Rhodes said.

The Tigers also made 11 of 13 from the field in that frame to take the double-digit lead.

"We missed some opportunities, and they capitalized," Sorrell said. "That stretch was key. If Warsaw gets up 17 or 18 points, you are in trouble if they keep pounding those big guys inside."

Andy Plank led Warsaw with 23 points and made 9 of 11 from the field. Reed added 14 and Chris Wiggins got 13.

Warsaw (3-0, 1-0) hosts Valparaiso tonight. Goshen falls to 1-1 and 0-1 in the NLC. [[In-content Ad]]